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The stock market started, and ended, this session on a softer note. There was a nice rally, however, that began around mid-morning as stocks climbed and Treasury yields, which had already been moving lower, declined further. Upside moves had the S&P 500 back above its 200-day moving average (4,235) after the index slipped below the 4,200 level right out of the gate, hitting 4,189 at its low.

The rally effort coincided with an X post from hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who said he had covered his short in bonds because "There is too much risk in the world to remain short bonds at current long-term rates." The 10-yr note yield moved from 4.97% to as low as 4.84% following his remark and the S&P 500 hit an intraday high of 4,255.

The turnaround effort for stocks, however, faded in the afternoon session. The S&P 500 closed below its 200-day moving average, sporting a 0.2% decline.

Relative strength from the mega cap space limited downside moves for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average while the Nasdaq Composite (+0.3%) closed with a small gain. The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) fell 0.6%.

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) climbed 0.4%. Even Apple (AAPL 173.00, +0.12, +0.1%), which was down as much as 1.7%, settled with a gain despite reports of discounted iPhone 15 sales in China and supplier Foxconn facing a tax probe by Chinese authorities.

Market breadth reflected a lack of conviction on the part of buyers that was related to rising tension in the Middle East, along with hesitation about where rates are headed and the pickup in earnings reports this week. Decliners led advancers by a greater than 2-to-1 margin at the NYSE and a 2-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq.

The earnings calendar this week features reports from Alphabet (GOOG 137.90, +1.16, +0.9%) and Microsoft (MSFT 329.32, +2.65, +0.8%) after Tuesday's close, Meta Platforms (META 314.01, +5.36, +1.7%) after Wednesday's close, and Amazon.com (AMZN 126.56, +1.39, +1.1%) after Thursday's close.

Outperforming mega cap stocks propelled their respective S&P 500 sectors to the top of the leaderboard. The energy sector (-1.6%) was the worst performer, weighed down by a loss in Chevron (CVX 160.68, -6.15, -3.7%), which announced a $53 billion, or $171.00 per share, all stock acquisition of Hess Corp. (HES 161.30, -1.72, -1.1%), and a drop in oil prices ($85.50/bbl, -2.55, -2.9%) that was spurred in part by global growth worries.

There was no U.S. economic data of note today, but key data later in the week includes Q3 GDP on Thursday and the September Personal Income and Spending report on Friday, which features the Fed's preferred inflation gauge (the PCE Price Indexes).